


Wake me up

by Byeola_vi



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Predebut ATEEZ, barista, sleepdeprived hongjoong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-25 21:15:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20378227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Byeola_vi/pseuds/Byeola_vi
Summary: Hongjoong is a trainee in daily need of caffeine. A new cafe opens close to KQ entertainment, and he becomes a regular.A new barista appears. She is a foreigner, new to the language and culture. She takes interest in sleep deprived Hongjoong, curiosity being her only motive. At first.





	Wake me up

**Author's Note:**

> I hope someone actually likes this, because I honestly kind of do... like and comment I guess? If you want to :)

Hongjoong was tired. It was 7 in the morning, and he had stayed awake until 4 am. It was not the first nor the last time this happened, as ever since he became a trainee, he had had very little sleep. But now that he was in the debuting team of his company, those habits worsened. Now, he wasn't composing songs for himself or the CEO of the company, but also for his future group members. He felt the need to remain awake and work just a bit more. No one ever forced him to, but himself. Now there he was, with dark circles under his eyes, waiting for his coffee to come. He felt himself dozing off a bit, until his order was called. He didn't even look up at the barista, simply taking his coffee out of his (hers?) hands.

***

It was early. Very early.

Way too early.

It had been difficult obtaining this job. I was a foreigner in a quite conservative country, and finding a full-time job turned out to be very challenging. Fortunately, I had made a few friends, and one had happened to work at a cafe searching for new employees. Because of my lack of knowledge of the local language, it had been difficult to convince the owner to hire me, but it ended up being my foreignness that reversed his decision. I was perfectly able of taking on orders and  
serving clients, but unable to hold a conversation exceeding greetings and thanks. 

My smart-witted friend insinuated that this inability to communicate would make my work more effective, as it would leave out the usual chatting time of employees.

He also mentioned that these days, foreigners brought up the interest of locals, and that this could possibly bring in more clients. 

(All of this he had explained to me afterwards, in his slightly imperfect English.)

Korean society very often relied on looks in all sorts of businesses, and mine did work in favor of the cafe. (Not my words)

I had started working there a week ago, and the boss said something about how his clientele got slightly wider, especially during my shifts. I did not consider this as being due to my presence in the cafe, but to the simple fact that the cafe was new and had lots to offer, in terms of atmosphere and beverages.

The cafe had opened a few months before I started working there, and the people living in the area appreciated having a cafe close to them, as the closest to ours was a good 20 minutes away walking. My presence had nothing to do with the prosperity of the cafe, but my boss was a very conservative and quite a naive old man, who believed most of the things he saw about foreigners in the movies, and believed that the population of Korea had the same world views as him.

It was my first time working in the morning, as I mostly used to work during the midday shifts, learning how to brew coffee properly under the supervision of the boss, a certified barista.

That day was the first time I saw him.

He looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes. He didn't look at me even once, hastily paying for his order before standing in the corner, waiting for its arrival.

While making the coffee, I glanced at him once in a while.

It wasn't that he was attractive, no (he looked like a wreck), that wasn't what had catched my eye. It was quite the opposite even.  
His tired figure was what had captured my attention.

He didn't look all that older than me, and that made me wonder what in the world had made him look so…. distressed.

Whilst he waited for his order, his eyes had fluttered shut and his head had been bobbing up and down, as he unconsciously tried to find a good standing sleeping position. 

I felt bad for waking him, but realized that he must have a hell of a good reason to be awake at this time on a Sunday, after having slept what looks like 0 hours. 

I wonder what…

***

It was early again. Hongjoong almost didn't wake up to his alarm, his hazy brain denying his trainee responsibilities’ calling.

He needed a coffee. Now.

He didn't have practice today. They had a day off today, for the first time in a very, very long time.

He had thought about sleeping in, but the deadline to submit quite a few songs was approaching, and he wasn't satisfied with any of them yet.

This day off was the perfect opportunity to finish at least one of the songs.

So, Hongjoong had decided that he will wake up early and work on his songs.

But first, coffee.

This time, he was more relaxed. The cafe had opened not a long time ago, and he had gotten used to his daily caffeine dose, brought by the closeness of the place.

He came there almost every morning before practice, but never got to really appreciate the atmosphere.

He ordered his usual coffee. This time, he was distracted looking around, noting the brightness of the place, with all the pastel colors. 

Waiting for his coffee, he observed the work of the barista. He had been distracted by his sleep deprivation when she was taking his order, not even looking at her face. She seemed to be new to the work, and he had noted her different pronunciation of the drink names, not Korean at all.

However, that didn't prepare him to the brightness of her eyes.

They were of a striking green, one that you can only see in summer, when the leaves are at their greenest, with the sun shining on them. She herself was as bright as her eyes, with an everlasting smile.

More than coffee, that sight woke him up.  
It was a strange feeling.

He took his cup and brought it to a spot near the vitrine. Looking outside the window, he noticed in the reflection that he wasn't the only curious one.

The barista had been stealing glances at him, he noticed.  
More clients came in as the morning rose, and he immersed himself into the creation of new music.

***

It has been hours since he came in. I was almost done for the day, it was already evening. It was difficult to leave, for some reason. Maybe it was because he hadn't eaten anything the whole time he was there, except at least three coffee refills, and he has been there for more than half of the day. 

He was immersed in his work, but I had seen him doze off a few times, eyes closed, head bobbing to the side, before getting another refill. 

My heart ached for the stranger, a complete stranger to me. I guess because he was a regular, I felt attached to him. Responsible, even.  
Weird.

Or maybe it was me wondering how handsome he would look without those dark circles under his eyes, noticeable even with his glasses. 

He was handsome, I have to admit. I had tried to ignore that slight detail, but inevitably, it kept coming back. 

He was the cute kind of handsome, with light brown hair and small hands (still bigger than mine, though). He was taller than me, but not by much, and through my usual standards, I would say he was pretty short (again, when you are just a little more than five feet tall, it is hypocritical to call someone taller than you short). 

I am pretty sure that if the cafe was a 24 hours working cafe, he would have stayed there the whole night, disregarding himself dozing off even now.

While washing the vacant tables near the window, I discreetly tossed a bun on his, behind his notebook.

He didn't open his eyes.

***

Again, Hongjoong had fallen into slumber. He was gently shaken awake by an employee, notifying him that the cafe was about to close.

He was the last customer.

Rapidly, but carefully, he closed his notebook and put away his belongings back in his bag.  
As he did so, he noticed on the empty table, a bun. 

He slowly took it.  
Where had it come from?  
He looked around, as if trying to find the culprit, but he indeed was the last customer to leave, and the employee was impatiently tapping his foot and glancing at him, visibly wanting to leave as soon as possible.

He decided not to question it too much, taking the bun and deserting the cafe.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this~


End file.
